Magdalene
by mountaindewaeris
Summary: Leon finally finds the courage to show Aerith how he really feels about her, only at the prospect of her being ripped away from his life. Leon/Aerith rated for language, suggestive scenes, and safety. Bad at summaries, sorry folks!


A/N: Here we go again, another songfic. This time the lyrics are from "Magdalene" by Boston, and so I do not own any part of them. Leon (Squall)/Aerith Kingdom Hearts series (not really from one particular game) love. Don't own those either. Enjoy! -mountaindewaeris

**Magdalene**

_I, I know I'm a dreamer_

_It's easy to see, I want to be a believer_

_And fly right through the air_

"Cloud…needs a skilled white mage with him on his travels Leon…" Aerith muttered, sitting with her knees to her chest on a nearby boulder. "I've known him my whole life, I just can't say no."

Leon sliced through the air with his mighty gunblade before storing the weapon into the swamp colored earth. He remained voiceless.

_Now I'm wide awake_

_I want you to take me there_

_The things that you told me_

"I may not be back for quite some time, I'm sure this goes without saying, but please take good care of Yuffie for me while I'm away. She's such a picky eater…" a wave of awkwardness washed over her at Leon's silence. It was that same strange, awkward feeling she had been feeling from him that helped her decides on join Cloud and Tifa on their journey to defeat Sephiroth once and for all. A year before, the relationship between the two had been perfect: joking together, training together, assisting Sora on his journey to defeat the Heartless, and she could not forget the best one of all: their daily walks. Everyday the two would take a twilit walk around the now serene town of Hollow Bastion ("We need the exercise. Besides, taking walks helps to improve memory" is what Leon explained to her, but Aerith suspected something else for the reasoning behind those walks). But about two months, inexplicably, things changed for the two. No longer were there twilit walks, an event she looked forward to every day she awoke. It was as if Leon was trying to protect himself from something. Right around the time Aerith began to reacquaint herself with her childhood friend Cloud, the awkwardness was created. Men could be so confusing.

_I don't know if I was dreaming_

_And dreams aren't enough_

_Life is so lonely_

_I need someone to believe in_

Aerith had always been full of whimsical surprises, ever since the day he met her. But nothing topped _this_. He had planned things out so nicely, and hadn't been able to follow through those plans for months. She came down here in his new underground training spot (similar to the one in Traverse Town), and after all those weeks of asking what he wanted to know and all the careful preparation, she tells him she's leaving. And not for an either or two either; this journey could take _years_. Cloud obviously had strong feelings for both she and Tifa, and what would Leon have done if the trio returned to town and the ex-SOLDIER chose Aerith? Would he date Tifa? Sure, she's a much better sparing partner than Aerith, but she doesn't have the same kind jade eyes that Aerith has, nor does she make her lemonade with salt or mixes soda with milk, and Tifa definitely isn't still afraid of _I Was A Teenage Heartless_. It's always the little things you miss when a love one leaves or…dies. Like with Rinoa.

_Are you in love?_

_Can't you see that's everything to me?_

_That's enough_

Rinoa…Leon hadn't thought of her in ages, not after what happened with Ansem. Rinoa had been Ansem's personal secretary and apprentice; he thirst for knowledge was just as quenching as his. He had known the beautiful professor-in-the-making since they were in diapers, and he vowed to marry her one day. Every day was like something out of a cheesy Harlequin romance novel for the gunblader and the angel, that is, until everything turned dark. Rinoa accidently stumbled upon Ansem's insidious plans for opening the door to the darkness. She confronted him days later, after secretly reading through all his research on the door and the creatures that lurk behind it, and was murdered in cold blood right atop Ansem's own desk. He played the innocent card, expressing to the media of his shock that someone intruded his research facilities and killed his over-time working assistant, and because of his stature in the past Hallow Bastion, everyone believed him. Leon knew better. His fiancée told him everything she found in Ansem's research findings and about his plot. If only she hadn't threatened the demon with telling the town of his ideas and the door to darkness…

"Leon?" Aerith's voice came, breaking him free of the painful memory's trance.

_Magdalene let me hear it said so I am sure_

_Answer me—can't you see that's all I'm waiting for_

_Here I am on my knees once more_

_Magdalene…_

"Sorry," he mumbled. Aerith had noticed as well that his mind seemed to drift to somewhere far away more and more than usual ever since the thick tension between the two first stirred. Leon knew it was happening again, and chastised himself for being so careless and falling in love again. How could he be so stupid?

_Time must lead you somewhere _

_I don't want to wait_

_I know you can take me there_

_The way that you hold me_

"So, what do you think?"

"About what?" he hissed, trying his damnest to stray away from the topic.

"About me journeying with Tifa and Cloud," she replied, sounding slightly annoyed this time.

"How do you want me to feel?"

"I want…you to be happy."

He laughed and whirled around; shirts tossed off long ago and sweat beads still lingering on his face, neck, and chest, face to face with her. "You want me to be _happy? _You expect me to be happy after hearing this?" He growled.

_I don't know if I was dreaming_

_And dreams aren't enough_

"Leon…" she whispered, emerald eyes clashing with sapphire, the intense heat of summer underground loosening the hair in her long braid, causing strands to carefully fall onto her face, making her look irresistible to him even more than ever. _Can't you see Leon? Can't you see why I'm leaving, why I'm running away?_

_Life is so lonely_

"And this Sephiroth…mutant," he began to shout at her, like he use to when she broke dishes while on cleaning duty back in Traverse Town. There hadn't been anymore screaming since Hallow Bastion was reformed, not until now. "I can just picture his long sword cutting through your torso. That man is unbelievable, and Tifa and Cloud can protect both you and themselves."

No remark from her about her obvious poor fighting abilities, as if she didn't hear him. The shell built around her heart was too thick due to the sorrow she felt for leaving. A few snide, ignorant remarks about something she knew to be true wouldn't come close to piercing that shell. Not at all.

"How am I going to know if you're dead? Wait and see two or three years from now? And, correct me if I'm wrong though I don't think I am, didn't the three of you go on this journey before?"

It was true; the first attempt at hunting down and destroying Sephiroth did fail utterly. Honestly though, she didn't care if this time failed or not. She felt she had to leave, because the situation between her and Leon wasn't getting any better. She felt he no longer wanted her around.

And what if she did leave? Would he maybe forget about his feelings for her and move on, incase what he feared the most happened? Millions of different thoughts and scenarios whirled around his head, but each time he came back to what he really wanted: to know, instead of wondering the age old question of 'what if'. He felt in his pocket for the velvet square he carried around with him all this time, in case the right moment came along or when he finally decided to be a man. _Now_, he determined, it was time to be a man.

_I need someone to believe in_

_Someone to love_

_Can't you see that's everything to me?_

_That's enough_

"Dammit Aerith!" his voice rose again, echoing off the stone walls. "You're making this harder than it should be."

She looked at him, confused. "What? What am I making harder than it should be?"

"Everything!" he shouted once more, not in anger but in exasperation. "Thinking, concentrating, sleeping, eating. Everything. I could only figure out one was in the whole Godam world to _maybe _remedy this situation. To make things better…"

Aerith continued to wait, staring up at him, heart pound in her neck and wrists. This speech sounded eerily familiar; she was dragged off to plenty of tawdry, cliché romance movies by Yuffie and Tifa to, sort of, get a feeling where this yelling was heading to. No longer did the intense heat make her cheeks flush and her head feel lighter than normal. She waited; let him get all the machoness out of his system, as asking these four simple words were just as hard for the man as it was for the woman.

_Magdalene let me hear it said so I am sure_

_Answer me—can't you see that's all I'm waiting for_

"Nothing has been the same…nothing has been _good _for me since Rinoa," Aerith closed her eyes momentarily at the sound of him saying her name. It hurt her almost as much as it hurt him; a part of him really did die that day, right along the time Ansem shoved a small dagger through her throat. Aeirth wish she could've known all of him, including the part that was long gone forever.

"Dammit…then you came in with your milk and soda concoctions and your fear of bad horror movies--," both took advantage of the small pause to laugh at her quirkiness. "--and now, I can't let you go with Cloud or Tifa or anyone else."

"Really?" she sounded shocked.

He nodded. "Yeah, because you wouldn't be achieving your goal."

Eyes rolling, she contorted. "Look, I know the first time around didn't go so well, but who knows what'll happen now that each of us is stronger and wiser. Cloud _did _come close to defeating him last time."

"That's not what I meant," chuckling and shaking his head, he pulled the velvet square from his pant's pocket, keeping it in plain sight for Aerith. A small gasp escaped her lips. "I meant, if you leave…you wouldn't…be making me…happy." he said the last part in a small voice uncharacteristic to his cold personality.

She smiled, her pinked lips from strawberry lip-gloss shimmering in the little condensation underground, not from just being proposed to or having her own wishes granted, but at Leon's great effort at trying to sound romantic like in the movies. Sure, she dreaded watching others' love stories, for she wanted to see her own, but c'mon, every girl on some level likes those cheap proposals, like in _Beauty and the Heartless_.

Unable to regulate them, she began to nod profusely. More hair feel into her face and another delicate layer of perspiration formed on her brow, and it was everything Leon could do to _not _ravish her right here on the stony floor beneath Hallow Bastion. Luckily, his joy at her acceptance of his proposal was stronger than his lust, for now anyway.

_Here I am on my knees_

_Oh I'm begging you please_

_Magdalene_

"What shall I tell Cloud and Tifa?" she asked humorlessly, examining the silver band with a jade-colored stone in its center as it glimmered on her ring finger.

He smiled a rare novelty to find plastered across his face. "Just make him some lemonade." He told her, and she pushed him playfully.

_Magdalene…_

_Magdalene…_

_Magdalene…._

Well, how was it folks? As sappy as you imagined? I chose the song "Magdalene" (Boston) not because of the name, but because it tells of one man's wish to stay with this girl Magdalene for the rest of his life. Hope the "Magdalene" parts didn't confuse you; I just used the lyrics for their meaning, nothing else. -mountaindewaeris


End file.
